Jamaica

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Legal

last updated: 18 February 2014

Freedom of association / Right to organise

Anti-Union discrimination

The law prohibits anti-union discrimination.

Barriers to the establishment of organisations:

'Prior authorisation or approval by authorities required for the establishment of a union'

A trade union must make an application for registration within 30 days of its establishment (section 6, Trade Unions Act).

Sanctions imposed for organising or joining an organisation not officially recognised

If an application for registration of a trade union has not been made or has been refused, or registration of trade union has been cancelled, every member of the trade union who continues to be a member, and every person who participates in any meeting or proceeding of the trade union, knowing that it is not registered shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a penalty of up to $500 (section 6(4), Trade Unions Act).

Restrictions on trade unions' right to organise their administration:

Restrictions on the right to elect representatives and self-administer in full freedom

In addition to the obligation on the treasurer of the trade union to deliver annually to the Registrar a statement of accounts, audit certificates, membership lists and changes to the rules and/or officers of the trade union, the Registrar may at any time require the treasurer or other officer of a trade union to deliver detailed accounts in respect of any specified period (section 16(2), Trade Unions Act).

Restrictions on the right to freely organise activities and formulate programmes

The Minister has extensive powers to refer a dispute to arbitration (sections 9, 10 and 11A, Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act).

Categories of workers prohibited or limited from forming or joining a union, or from holding a union office:

Armed forces

Members of the armed forces are excluded from the definition of worker (i.e. 'all persons employed in trade or industry') in section 2 of the Trade Union Act.

Police

Members of the police forces are excluded from the definition of worker (i.e. 'all persons employed in trade or industry') in section 2 of the Trade Union Act.

Other civil servants and public employees

Civil servants are excluded from the definition of worker (i.e. 'all persons employed in trade or industry') in section 2 of the Trade Union Act.

Right to collective bargaining

Barriers to the recognition of collective bargaining agents:

Excessive requirements in respect to trade unions' representativity or minimum number of members required to bargaining collectively

A trade union must secure the support of the majority of the workers eligible to vote in a proposed bargaining unit in order to be recognised as having bargaining rights with respect to workers in the bargaining unit (sections 4A and 5(5), Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act). Trade unions may only claim joint bargaining rights if each trade union individually receives at least 30% of the votes (section 5(6), Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act). As well as setting a high threshold for eligibility, this may lead to a situation where 2 minority trade unions exclude the most representative trade union, if the latter secures less than 50% of workers' votes.

Restrictions on the principle of free and voluntary bargaining:

Imposition of fixed and unreasonable procedural requirements (e.g. short time-limits for reaching an agreement)

A trade union that is recognised as having bargaining rights in relation to workers must give written notice to the employer, stating that the trade union desires to make a collective agreement with the employer, within 15 days of having been recognized. Negotiations for a collective agreement must ben be conducted within 30 days of the date of service of that notice (section 5A, Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act).

Compulsory conciliation and / or binding arbitration procedure in the event of disputes during collective bargaining, other than in essential services

The Minister has extensive powers to refer a dispute to arbitration, if: (a) the dispute concerns an essential service: or (b) industrial action is likely to be gravely injurious to the national interest; or (c) the Minister is satisfied that an industrial dispute should be settled expeditiously; or (d) the Minister and Supreme Court are satisfied that industrial action is prejudicial to the national interest (sections 9, 10, 11A and 32, Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act).

Limitations or ban on collective bargaining in certain sectors:

Armed forces

The Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act does not apply to the Jamaica Defence Force or to persons employed in it (section 25(2)).

Police

The Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act does not apply to the Jamaica Constabulary Force, the Island Special Constabulary Force or the Rural Police, or to persons employed in those Forces (section 25(2)).

Other civil servants and public employees

The right to be recognised as having bargaining rights, and the obligation on trade unions and employers to bargain in good faith, does not apply to the Government or to workers employed by the Government (section 25(3), Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act).

Right to strike

Ban or limitations on certain types of strike actions:

Restrictions with respect to the objective of a strike (e.g. industrial disputes, economic and social issues, political, sympathy and solidarity reasons)

Strike action may only be taken in relation to industrial disputes, which are defined to mean a dispute between one or more employers or organisatons representing employers and one or more workers or organisations representing workers where the dispute relates to: terms and conditions (including physical conditions) of employment; engagement, non-engagement, termination or suspension of the employment; allocation of work; any matter affecting the privileges, rights and duties of an employer, employers' organisation, worker or trade union; and any matter relating to the bargaining rights on behalf of any worker (section 2, Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act). Picketing for sympathy or solidarity reasons is prohibited (i.e. it is unlawful for any person to participate in a picket if the person is not an employer, member, workman or former workman of the firm involved in the industrial dispute and at which the picket is directed, or is not one of 8 officers of a registered trade union) (section 33, Trade Unions Act).

Restrictions with respect to type of strike action (e.g. pickets, wild-cat, working to rule, sit-down, go-slow)

Picketing is unlawful if it is attended in such numbers or otherwise in such manner as to be calculated to intimidate any person, obstruct the approach thereto or egress therefrom or to lead to a breach of the peace (section 33, Trade Unions Act).

Undue interference by authorities or employers during the course of a strike:

Authorities' or employers''' power to unilaterally prohibit, limit, suspend or cease a strike action

The Minister may make an order declaring strike action to be unlawful where it appears to the Minister that any industrial action has caused or would cause an interruption in the supply of goods or services of such a nature or on such a scale as to be likely to be gravely injurious to the national interest (section 10, Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act). The Minister also has the power to apply to the Supreme Court for an order restraining the parties from commencing or continuing industrial action where it appears to the Minister than any industrial is likely to be gravely injurious to the national economy, to imperil national security or to create a serious risk of public disorder, or to endanger the lives of a substantial number of persons or expose them to serious risk of disease or injury (section 32, Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act).

Authorities' or employers' power to prevent or end a strike by referring the dispute to arbitration

The Minister has extensive powers to refer a dispute to arbitration, if: (a) the dispute concerns an essential service: or (b) industrial action is likely to be gravely injurious to the national interest; or (c) the Minister is satisfied that an industrial dispute should be settled expeditiously (sections 9, 10 and 11A, Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act).

Undermining of the recourse to strike actions or their effectiveness:

Any worker who ceases, abstains from or refuses to continue to perform work, or carries on a course of conduct intended to prevent or reduce the production of goods or services, during a period of unlawful industrial action shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of up to $500 (or, in the case of a continuing offence, of up to $5,000) (section 13, Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act). Unlawful involvement in a picket is punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 or imprisonment for up to 3 months, with our without hard labour (sections 32 and 33, Trade Unions Act).

Limitations or ban on strikes in certain sectors:

Other limitations (e.g. in EPZs)

Workers and trade unions in certain industries are obliged to give the Minister at least 72 hours notice of any contemplated industrial action. These industries are: air transport services for the carriage of passengers etc, banana services, businesses relating to the issue or redemption of currency etc, banking services, bauxite and alumina services, marine services, public passenger transport services, sugar and its by-products services, telephone services and tourism services (section 5B and 5th Schedule, Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act).